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The Stanchies: Canucks get back on track with loss to Flyers
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Photo credit: © Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
The Stanchion
Dec 23, 2025, 00:23 ESTUpdated: Dec 23, 2025, 01:08 EST
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I don’t quite know what to make of the Vancouver Canucks as of late. In any normal world, a 4-1 record on a road trip would be met with fanfare and adulation. Flowers would be thrown from windows as the team returned home, with people talking breathlessly about the road-warrior mentality needed to grind out a winning record in enemy territory. Heck, a new seat or two might have even been installed to show just how much the owners appreciated their efforts.
But in the world of a rebuild, a word used by Jim Rutherford himself, the Canucks probably don’t want to win too much? I know, I know, the age-old debate of not embracing losing in sports is something we can scream about over a beer at GRETA another day, but realistically, a rebuild should try to bring in top prospects as quickly as possible. And winning five games in a row? Well, heck, that might give management the wrong idea about what a rebuild is all about and-
What’s that? Patrik Allvin called it a hybrid retool on air tonight?
Oh.
OK, so clearly the Canucks weren’t using Quinn Hughes forcing himself out of town as a chance to pretend they were embracing a rebuild, right?
Right?
They wouldn’t jump at the first sniff of success and hide behind the “hybrid” terminology to excuse away any lack of future-looking moves, right?
Right?
Well, the good news for people hoping for a top-five pick in the draft this year is that I don’t think the Canucks are going to go on many 4-1 runs during this season. If you dive into the numbers, the Canucks were shooting an absurdly high 16% during their four wins, and had a .948 save percentage (shoutout to former Stanchies writer Trent for the stats).
I don’t know if they will play this badly too often, as the end of a road trip is often waved away as a tired team with nothing left in the gas tank, but I think the team is closer to the Philadelphia Flyers game than they are to anything they showed in the four wins.
If anything, the 5-2 loss against the Flyers was a bit of a wake up call for the fun jokes we got to have about the team being better without Quinn Hughes. I don’t think Hughes would have won this game for Vancouver, mind you, but watching Rick Tocchet’s team dominate the play and hem the Canucks in their own zone for most of the night, you’d be remiss if you didn’t find yourself pinging for the days where Hughes would at least get the puck away from the opposition for a shift or two to give you a breather.
Now, I don’t know if “hybrid retool” is just Allvin being loose with branding, or if Jim was shooting from the hip when he dropped the word “rebuild” earlier in the month.
Either way, I do think the team should be very careful with how it talks about its future plans. You already have a market that has become frustrated with the team’s approach over the last decade, so it would behoove them to make sure their talking points are aligned.
All I know is if you speak of a rebuild, and then walk that back to the retool that works on either gas or electricity, you’re going to find yourself in a very unhappy market. The rebuild genie was let out of the bag, and if losing Quinn Hughes was the ultimate price for that, you best believe you need to make sure whatever you do next is a success. Start treating the market with respect, and you might be shocked by how well it works for you.
So, while we wait for the next description of the Canucks’ future plans, may I invite you to read about a game in which the Canucks were thoroughly outplayed, and most of the highlights are from the Flyers?
Hey, don’t leave-
Best and here we go
I will say that I think this version of the Flyers is what Rick Tocchet probably had in mind for the Canucks if it wasn’t for the whole, you know, entire team imploding because the top centers hated each other thing. We saw the worst of the Tocchet Era, in which dumping the puck into the corner and going for a quick line change was a high point of the night for most games, so it became a bit exhausting by the end.
But Monday evening, the Flyers played that GOTI hockey Rick was always going on about, with the North/South hockey, the getting in hard on the forecheck, and protecting the middle of the ice, and they used it to absolutely hammer the sh!t out of the Canucks. Without the Quinn Hughes cheat code to auto-generate zone exits/entries, the Canucks found themselves struggling to do much of anything during the game. I actually pined for the days when the Canucks could execute a good dump-in and line change at one point.
Initially, I didn’t realize what lay in store for the Canucks because early on the Flyers were playing the light version of GOTI hockey, the kind where you work the puck in deep, find someone at the point for the shot, and then you crash the net:
Like, they won some puck battles, and they got a shot on net. That’s perfectly fine, but I assumed the Flyers would top out at 21 shots and that Demko would handle them with ease. Except on this night, the Flyers got 39 shots, and almost half of them were in very dangerous spots, which doesn’t even count the shots they missed the net on.
In comparison, this was one of the top five plays from the Canucks, in which Zeev Buium generated an offensive rush with Jake DeBrusk that resulted in what I’m calling a “hybrid shot on net,” aka a pass that didn’t connect:
The Flyers, though, were getting into great danger areas to shoot the puck. On one play, Travis Konecny waltzed into the slot and just missed wide, only for the Flyers to keep cycling the puck until they fed Rasmus Ristolainen, who absolutely walked into a piss missile of a shot from the point:
This was one of those scenarios in which Thatcher Demko ended the game with an .895 save percentage, but it was clear that without him, this could have easily been much worse for Vancouver.
Best Henrik Sedin confidence
Believe it or not, there was a point in the game where I thought Trevor Zegras passing out of dangerous shooting areas was going to bite the Flyers in the ass, but alas, a confident Zegras is a good Zegras:
And even though Zegras passed out from in front of the net, it still led to a shot from a good location that could have scored.
Zegras did it again later in the period, when he got the puck in the middle of the ice and then tried feeding the point, only for it to end up leaving the zone:
So what started off as me thinking “I can’t wait to laugh about this doofus passing out of scoring positions” it quickly became apparent that Zegras was one of the most noticeable Flyers on the ice, and that when you’re involved in like half the scoring chances from your team, it’s ok if you mix in some passing plays here and there.
I honestly couldn’t tell you if Brock Boeser played in this game, hand to God. I am pretty sure he must have been there, but I can’t remember a single play of his. Whereas with Zegras, he consistently generated offence each period, which I feel is probably a sign he was doing something right.
Best tanking the tank
With the Flyers on the power play in the first period, Thatcher made sure to give Tocchet a little bit of a scare that he might be getting Demko’d. Not going full Hasek or anything, but just making enough saves that Rick might sweat a little bit.
With the Flyers moving the puck around with aplomb, they ended the play with a Konecny one-timer that Demko stopped easily:
And when the Flyers tried getting real freaky naughty with the puck in the crease, Demko stood tall and shut the door, and not once did I think of the word “popliteus”:
Now, the more astute of you out there will notice that I only showed one offensive highlight from Vancouver in the first period, and that was a rush that ended with no shot on net. As I said, this was not a good game for Vancouver. The Flyers were outshooting the Canucks 14-5 after the opening frame, and they never really found their footing in this one.
Best that’s a paddling
I was worried Matvei Michkov was going to get benched for attempting this, I won’t lie:
If we’re being honest, Demko would have stopped it anyway. You don’t practice with Nils Höglander for years without getting a healthy dose of Michigans during practice.
Best tired team or team tired
You know how much I appreciate Corolla Garland’s game, but even I have to admit he hasn’t played up to his usual standards the last handful of games. Injury? Fatigue? Randomness of life? Who knows, but as one of the most consistent Canuck players, it does stand out when he’s not on his game.
It’s either his passes not connecting, or him not getting involved in board battles as much, or him not darting in to intercept a pass, or a situation like this, where he misplays the puck, and it leads to an odd-man rush the other way:
It just feels like something has been off with Garland the last few games.
Best it never gets better
Speaking of Zegras, here he is again generating some offence, this time pushing the puck towards the net and just missing wide:
If you watched this game, you kind of felt like the Canucks MIGHT win if they could get to the third period and get a lucky bounce or wake up and find some energy. It felt like it might follow the script from the earlier road trip, where things just sort of fell into place for Vancouver, because damn it, hybrid rebuilds give you a lot of leeway.
But realistically, it just felt like a matter of time until the Flyers scored because if it wasn’t Demko having to make a big save, it was the Flyers juuuuuuust missing on a scoring chance. The Canucks barely sniffed the Flyers end of the ice, and when they did, it was like some sort of homage to Tocchet’s last year in Vancouver, utilizing the good old-fashioned thoughts and prayer soft wrist shot towards an unscreened goaltender.
I am not even going to mention the Flyers’ goalie by name because they don’t deserve it; their night was too easy to deserve any praise.
Best welcome to “The Shift”
The first and best extended shift of the game for Vancouver finally happened around halfway through the game, which ended with Evander Kane dancing all day, ending with a boom, headshot:
He had nowhere else to shoot, and unless the goalie who shall not be named’s pads fell off, it’s hard to imagine Kane scoring in any way on that shot, but hey, you take what you can get at this point.
Other highlights included Kiefer Sherwood shoving the puck out of the zone:
That’s a mighty fine shove.
Oh, there was also a Max Sasson chance after he was set up by Linus Karlsson, after the long bomb pass from Marcus Pettersson:
That at least felt like it had a chance to go in, and was probably the high point of the second period from the Canucks.
Best all good things come to an end
Mercifully, the Flyers decided to finally end any hope of a win when they opened the scoring near the end of the second, when Nikita Grebenkin got a piece of Emile Andrae’s point shot:
This is the poster boy for Tocchet GOTI hockey. Get the puck in deep, win a couple of puck battles, work it back to the point, layer two guys in front of the goalie, shoot on net, and score.
I will say that Tocchet hockey looks far more appetizing when it involves a healthy mix of shots in dangerous areas and in the crease. Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good tipped shot from the point, but you can’t make that the main course. It’s like going to the Oliver Garden and making a meal out of the free breadsticks. Sure, you can do that, but you probably shouldn’t do that. Especially not 82 times a year.
Best foreshadowing
The Flyers then did the honourable thing by letting the Canucks know who was going to score later in the game, by having Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett, and Trevor Zegras all take turns ALMOST scoring, which is hockey’s version of foreplay. Well, at least it was before Heated Rivalry came out and changed that dynamic forever.
Up first, you had Michkov, scoreless in enough games to be mentioned by the broadcast repeatedly, power the puck on net, only to be thwarted by Thatcher:
Michkov would then follow that up with a deft tip on net that Demko just barely got enough of to stop:
Owen Tippet was next to announce his intentions, as he raced right around Elias Pettersson to get a clear-cut breakaway:
Terrorizing young defenceman seems to be Tippett’s thing as he would absolutely pants Tom Willander later in the game, but we’ll get to that.
First, we have to go back to Trevor Zegras, who, after Zeev Buium was stripped of the puck, had a two-on-one chance with Konecny:
The broadcast seemed to think Buium merely fumbled the puck, but I detected a hint of him trying to play the puck with a stick betwixt his legs, which, hey, I am here for it. Do your dekes, bro, why not at this point.
Then, finally, it was Owen Tippet once again terrorizing Elias Pettersson, skating right around him and trying to bulldoze the puck into the net:
The takeaway from all of this is that the Flyers found countless ways to generate offence against the Canucks. Point shots, shots from the slot, pucks in the crease, it felt like any time the Canucks tried to bring the puck up the ice, the Flyers shut them down and countered them oh so easily.
Good for team tank, mind you, but not an entertaining game from Vancouver’s side of things.
Best old habits die hard
With the Canucks clearly on the ropes, the Flyers connected on a straight right that would have dropped Jake Paul in his tracks when Carl Grundstrom collected his own rebound and made it 2-0:
Not that fatigue can excuse the countless times this season Vancouver has left a man wide open in front of their net, but four players stuck in the mud, watching as a dude races by them to double-tap a puck, tells me this team needs a bit of a rest.
Best keep ’em coming
Christian Dvorak would then make it 3-0 after tipping in a puck out of the air after a lucky bounce off the glass:
Initially ruled no goal, the replay showed Dvorak’s stick was legally allowed to enter the bar, which then led to the Amazon Prime announcers laughing about Montreal giving up on Dvorak and how they’d rue the day they’d moved on from him. Which initially you’re like “ok, relax guys” but then you see Dvorak is on pace for a career high in points and he once scored 121 points in the OHL, and sure he’s already 29 years old, but what if that’s just entering his prime and his time is now???
Anyway, this was not a fun game.
Best cheap shot
Praised by the play-by-play as showcasing some grit, Michkov took out Buium in what was clearly interference but was let go by the refs:
Zeev would be ok, mostly because Tyler “Dad” Myers let his son know he’d get through this, but Michkov is signing some checks; he’d better be sure he can cash.
Best Sasson-ing the moment
Armed with his new NHL contract, Max Sasson continued to prove me right in my group chat as he scored one of the two goals for Vancouver after Garland set him up for a mini-breakaway:
That’s one of those goals where a guy makes it look like he gave so little effort to score, as if to say “that’s a little embarrassing I scored that easily on you, you should feel bad.” when in fact it’s such a highly skilled goal. Once again, Sasson’s NHL speed keeps him in the NHL, and, along with eight goals on the season, has him about as firmly cemented in the lineup as he’s ever been in Vancouver.
Best learning moment
Owen Tippett’s 10th shot of the game was definitely his best one, as not only did he absolutely undress Tom Willander, he also used Jake DeBrusk’s own move against him:
Going full Fat Joe is Jake’s move, and I can only imagine the seething frustration that coursed through his body after he saw that.
Owen Tippett remains one of those players that you think might always have a second gear to their game, that maybe they can be a 70+ point player one day, but has never quite gotten there. Against Vancouver, though, his power and speed stood out in a big way.
Please note: out of kindness, I didn’t bother showing the Michkov empty-netter goal. You know how those work; there’s nothing to break down on it.
Best outlook
The Canucks losing is kind of the agenda going forward, if we’re being honest. I just think people want some excitement while it happens?
Maybe mix in some one-goal losses here and there, and some games where the home team gets three or four goals, you know?
Against the Flyers, it was the young defenceman on the team getting terrorized repeatedly that made it a bit of a tepid watching party from Vancouver’s side of things. Silver linings and selling the hope of the future is what it’s all about, whether that’s in the form of losing so the draft pick gets better, or it’s watching Buium skating end to end before setting up Drew O’Connor for a goal:
That’s what you hope for at this point: that the young players continue to give you moments where you can see a future beyond the Quinn Hughes/JT Miller/Elias Pettersson fallout, to a world in which your GM doesn’t have to come up with new car terms for how your team is being built.
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